Welcome to the Productivity Blog

“Taking a break” is one of those phrases you hear a lot. But for me (and I'm sure for many of you) – it's a struggle. I come from a hard-working and motivated family, so the concept of being dedicated and working for what you want has been instilled in me since I was young. Even now, I can’t come home from work and do nothing, even if I’ve had a really tough day. I’ll do things. I’ll be active. And if I’m poorly? I have to be doing at least something, even if it’s just reading on the sofa.

I know you’ll find all of this really familiar. I know you’ll have the same battle on an almost daily basis. Just this week I saw someone say they had loads of blog photos to shoot but they wanted a nap. And do you know what stops us from giving in?
 

Guilt.

We’re a generation with side projects. We’re the generation that doesn’t sleep. We’re a generation that always wants more and is always doing something. So it’s no wonder that taking a break is so difficult for us to do!

But this is a really unhealthy way to live.

If you’ve been joining in with the Blogging Breakthrough Challenge, you’ll know that I’ve been pushing you. I’ve been pushing you to try things outside of your comfort zone and I’ve been pushing you to work hard. So far, it’s been 26 days of hard work. That’s what a challenge is all about, right?

Come next Monday, it’s all about putting what you’ve learnt into action. So I think Day 27 in the challenge is best spent away from your blog altogether. You've got to let your mind rest, step back from the daily grind of blogging (and your full-time job if you’re like me), and enjoy other areas of your life. Because guess what?
 

Your blog doesn’t define your life.

So on Day 27, let’s talk about why it’s so important to take a break and how it can actually benefit your blog in a really good way.

Over the past few years, I've been reading fewer and fewer books. Give me blogs and magazines any day, but an actual book? It’s safe to say that it’s been a while. That was until last summer when I got a creative inspirational book for my birthday. Since I've started reading it, it’s made me realise how important it is to read a book. It creates so much joy and can actually support your self-development more than the online world ever can.

So as part of the Blogging Breakthrough challenge, when we’re finally getting to that stage where we’re putting things into action, this is the perfect thing you need. It’s time to start focusing on yourself and growing your creative imagination with some good old-fashioned reading.

Why Are Books so Beneficial?

When you’re a child, you don’t even think twice about reading. I used to devour book after book after book – some I've definitely read more than once. I loved escaping into another world and tying myself to each story. It’s important for your growth into adulthood – but it’s given me a completely different perspective now.

No matter whether you’re 14 or forty, that feeling of opening a page of a fresh new book never goes away. Now I'm 24, I realise even more how big of a part reading plays in my personal development. Here are some other reasons why I think reading is so beneficial:

It Gets You Away from the Noise

When you’re reading a book, you’re just reading. All you need is somewhere comfy to sit, your drink of choice (tea for me) and a book. You don’t need social media, you don’t need your notifications popping up every minute – you need quiet. That’s why I want to get back into reading more.

Our lives are surrounded by so much noise lately, coming in every direction. Emails, notifications, messages, to-do lists – it’s like we always have to be tuned in so our mind never relaxes. Reading a book lets you completely switch off from everything. You don’t have to worry about whether or not you shared the link to your latest blog post or whether you replied to that email. The point of reading is so you can let go of all that and distance yourself from the noise to enrich your life.

If you’re using Twitter but you’re not using Twitter lists, you’re really missing out.

This is the one thing I wish I’d learnt when I first started out on Twitter.

Your feed is hard to keep up with at the best of times. I'm betting you follow a lot of people – and with retweets, quotes and some sponsored content, it can be difficult to take it all in.

You don’t want to miss the best tweets. You don’t want to miss the best opportunities. But how do you make sure you see them?

With Twitter lists.

These let you see the most important, exciting and original content from the people that you’re bothered about the most. It’s like you’re using Twitter more than what its purpose is. You’re using it intentionally and mindfully.

I absolutely love Twitter lists. Like Tom said yesterday, not only can they help you find inspiration, they’re also there to find communities and to look for opportunities to interact.

But there are so many other ways to use them too. So today’s task in the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge is all about why Twitter lists are so great and how you can make the most of them.

Why Are Twitter Lists so Great?

You Can Create Lists of Your Favourite People

Your favourite bloggers, brands, friends, magazines – you don’t have to scroll through your entire feed to see if you’ve missed their updates. You can make sure you catch all of them by putting them into a special list. I have a Twitter list that’s exactly like this, and honestly? I never scroll through my entire feed anymore – I've got the most important updates right where I want them.

Gone are the days when social media could take a back seat in getting yourself known online. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn - they are now so saturated with the claims of bloggers and businesses each vying for their market share, that simply having a presence on these social platforms is no longer enough. You need a proper social media plan to give yourself the best possible chance of standing out from your competitors.
 

This is a guide for you to achieve that, with five steps to help get you started and then repeat over and over until your social media presence is flourishing.

Please remember though that this takes time - people will not flock to your website within a week, perhaps not even after six months. But if you put as much hard work and effort into your social media plan as you do creating brilliant blog posts, there is no reason why your social platforms cannot become a valuable asset for your work and career.

So let's get underway focusing on two of the most useful social platforms for bloggers - Twitter and Instagram.

Go on a Following Spree

When starting out, you will almost certainly have to follow someone for them to follow you in return, so identify individuals beneficial to you and follow them. The best case scenario is that they follow you back. The worst case scenario is that they don't, but by following them you will still be able to see all the useful content that they share.
 

A good way to ensure that your feed is full of truly genuine opportunities for engagement is to go on a following spree.